In Academia also…

Plagiarism is as old as the hills in Western  academia. Passing off the work of others as original research and cheating at exams is part and parcel of the curriculum these days.  ‘Lie, cheat and steal’ is the bourgeois ethic that underwrites everything in the capitalist world so it shouldn’t surprise us to find it in academia also. When caught out erring scholars can usually expect a moment of shame, a rap on the knuckles, a demotion or a discreet resignation before returning to the ivory towers. 
Not so for Jason Arday, the Cambridge professor who was hounded to death by endless racist attacks on his integrity in the mainstream media. They claimed that his academic achievements were faked and that his back-story didn’t add up.
This was all too much for Arday, one of the youngest black professors in Britain. He submitted his resignation. Last week he took his own life.
Jason Arday was subjected to a bourgeois media frenzy usually reserved for mass murderers and serial killers. Some aspects of Arday’s narrative may well have been massaged to advance his career. But other key claims the sociologist made about his academic research and his charity work, which were widely denounced as false, now appear to be true. 
It transpires that the witch-hunt was inspired by another Cambridge don, an American racist and Zionist, who had  previously been dismissed from Emmanuel College in a row over his views on race and intelligence. Dr Nathan Cofnas has a firm view about black people. He is a proponent of "racial realism" who wrote in February 2024 that without affirmative action, "blacks would disappear from almost all high-profile positions outside of sports and entertainment". 
But this wasn’t just an isolated case of academic bigotry and rivalry. London MP Diane Abbott says the press was out for Jason Arday from day one. 
“What you have to remember is that this wasn’t a matter of a few weeks,” the maverick Labour MP told the media. “He was first appointed as a professor in Cambridge three years ago and for those three years he has had a vicious campaign from people who just didn’t believe that a black man should be a Cambridge professor”. And it doesn’t stop there. “Stop and think how many people at other top universities think exactly the same,” she said. “It wasn’t just a campaign against one professor, it was a campaign against all of us”.
Or as Jeremy Corbyn put it “in the final months of his life, Jason Arday was subject to a relentless onslaught of attacks and abuse. Jason was a human being with friends and family – but he was turned into a pawn for vicious culture wars by a cruel media industry motivated by racism and clicks. The lessons are never learned. When will the British media face accountability for its behaviour?
“Jason was much loved by those around him. May he rest in peace”.

No to Fascism!

 

The NCP joined other communists throughout the world for a keynote anti-fascist conference in Moscow in May. A 180 delegations from over 100 countries took part in the Third International Anti-Fascist Forum that was organised by the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) with the aim of bringing together communist and workers’ parties from around the world to co-ordinate the increasing challenges they face from wars, economic crises, attacks on basic democratic rights, the rise of the far-right and fascism and the growing use of terrorist groups by the imperialists. This is Theo Russell’s contribution.

by Theo Russell

Dear KPRF comrades, I thank you on behalf of the New Communist Party of Britain for organising this important conference, for your wonderful hospitality, and bring you warm greetings from our comrades and activists in Britain.
In the past five years the danger of a return to the events of the 1930s has become widely recognised, with the rapid rise right wing populist movements in the rich capitalist states. 
We believe this is the result of capitalist globalisation, neo-liberal austerity policies, and the relentless decline in real wages and public social spending.
The relocation of factories overseas and closure of mines removed the basis for a stable family life and strong communities in many areas, and the number of union members with a basic political education and class consciousness declined.
The secure long-term jobs of old have been replaced by low-paid short term or “zero hours” contracts, and while ordinary workers pay ever more for basic utilities and taxes, the super-rich rapidly multiply.
The ruthless neo-liberal policies, regime changes, sanctions and wars by imperialism – which have caused the deaths of millions of people –created unprecedented migration from the poor south to the rich north.
We don’t believe the simplistic left liberal slogan “All migrants are welcome” is a realistic solution to the multiple multiple complex problems thrown up by this enormous migration. Instead, we advocate a mass struggle against these imperialist policies and massive economic support for the developing states.
In 2004 when the European Union expanded to the east, Britain was the only country to immediately open its borders to countries with wages many times lower, countries which were still recovering from the effects of the collapse of socialism. 
Since 2000 several million new citizens have arrived in Britain per decade, but instead of building new housing, health and other services for them, public funding was cut year after year.
Over 90 per cent of these migrants arrived legally because of labour shortages, but of course the far right foment the fear of hordes of “boat people “.
Most of these migrants moved to poorer areas where local councils were already struggling financially, and while local residents can wait decades for state subsidised housing, they have to house migrants seeking asylum by law. 
They also face are high levels of crime, addictions and mental health problems, and widespread despair and misery. In these areas schools, housing and health, and even the availability of places to buy healthy food, are extremely poor, where schools have to provide breakfast because their pupils get no breakfast at home and many people rely on so-called “food banks”.
According to the UN 30 per cent of children in the UK are living in poverty, almost two million people suffer from undernourishment, and we read in our media that many parents to go without food for days before payday so they can feed their children. And in 2024 this was the world’s fifth richest country in total wealth!
These communities quite rightly view the political and media classes in London with absolute hatred. 
The housing of over 12O,000 asylum claims was handed to private contractors, who placed them in the poorest districts with cheap accommodation, and didn’t even warn the local authorities of their arrival. In these areas, according to media reports, many residents can’t even dream of staying in a hotel!
It would be hard to imagine policies better designed to create anger and resentment, and the perfect conditions for fascist groups to step in and mobilise the most backward, unorganised working class elements. But we shouldn’t over-estimate the far right danger in Britain.
Last year far right gangs attacked refugees, Muslims and the police for a week across England, but in every locality far greater numbers from local communities mobilised against them. But for the police presence, the fascists would undoubtedly have suffered a crushing defeat. 
In the USA, a year after the storming of the US Capitol building in January 2021, the far right could only muster a few hundred activists in most state capitals, but recently five million people protested against Donald Trump.
While in the USA the police and national guard often defend the white racists, in Britain the far right constantly attack the police, and as a result in 2024 the far right mobs were strongly condemned by the Starmer government.
Even in the USA, where two citizens were shot dead in Minneapolis by the racist ICE police, the popular resistance movement and political backlash forced Trump to withdraw them.
While parties seeking a return to the 1930s are undoubtedly growing in many European countries, the only country where fascists have actually seized power is in Ukraine.
In the 1980s our party formulated the concept of “creeping fascism” after Margaret Thatcher launched an all-out offensive against trade union rights and the “welfare state”, and then moved to smash the coal miners. The attempts to roll back the gains of the labour movement over the past hundred years have continued relentlessly since then. 
Today there are growing attacks on basic democratic rights across Europe, particularly  aimed at the mass movement against Israeli genocide. 
However we don’t believe that  our ruling classes are considering doing away with their limited bourgeois democracy in the foreseeable future. 
In Italy, the far right government of Giorgia Meloni, once a member of a neo-fascist party, has attempted to limit the number of migrants arriving. But there has been no move to suspend basic democratic rights, nor have the fascist parties been unleashed against their political enemies.
We believe the only genuine fascist dictatorship in the world is in Ukraine, where all democratic opposition and media have been smashed, and over a million people have died to serve NATO’s plans to surround and subvert the Russian Federation.
For us the main priorities for communists today are freedom and justice for the Palestinian people, and the complete eradication of resurgent Nazism in Ukraine. If Nazism is allowed to succeed in Ukraine, its scourge will inevitably spread. We remember the watchwords of past and present struggles: No Pasaran! Sie werden nicht durchkommen! Nyet Fascismu!

Welcome aboard China's Slow Trains

 
by John Maryon

People's China has invested heavily to develop the world's largest high speed railway network, the total length of which now exceeds 50,000 km.  An impressive transport system, with speeds of 350 km/hour and which is still being expanded rapidly and with even faster trains being introduced under the current five year plan.  Rail travel is the safe green option for billions of passengers and forms the key element of a logistics system second to none. It has enabled the vast country to open up. Travel between regions has become convenient and affordable. Migrant workers can now see their families on a more regular basis. Tourism has received a massive boost. Quicker and more easy access for goods and services has improved the lives of the people. The railway system is operated as a service for everyone without the high profits that would apply in the western world. There also exists another 110,000 km of conventional rail network serving both rural and urban areas that continues to play an essential role in connecting modern China. 
China's famous slow trains serve and connect remote villages and towns and play a vital role in the rejuvenation of the rural economy.  Slow trains form a lifeline in the more remote regions and are subsidised where necessary, unlike the market driven doctrine of most western nations. The Western media has been critical of China's large scale public welfare projects which they consider to be financially unviable. Let us look at some of these railways and consider the impact they are having on people's lives in desert regions, among snow-covered plateaus, deep valleys and remote mountain passes. 
One such is the Hotan Yulong Train which connects Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, with Hotan in the far south.  The full 2,000 km journey, which includes 66 stops taken at intervals of approximately 30 minutes, maintains an average speed of 50 km/hour. The full cost would be £18.15 but the one stop minimum cost ticket is only the equivalent of 44 pence. The train transports school children and intrepid travellers but also many local farmers seeking to sell their produce at the next big town. These could include fruit growers from the south of the region who had harvested fresh juicy peaches from their orchards and stacked the crates in a suitable location on the train ready for the marketplace. Depending upon the season there would also be walnuts, cherries, dates and pomegranates.  The train is the commuter service for farmers and herders so expect to meet goats, pigs, chickens and ducks on some services. 
An unusual event takes place about five times a year on the Hotan route called the Mobile Bazaar or Meshrep – meaning a gathering in the Uygur language.  It was the brainchild of the conductor and introduced with the support of local Communist Party branches. Stalls were set up on the train as it sped through the Gobi Desert to sell local produce, souvenirs and handicrafts. It was a challenge at first for some shy farmers to stand in front of a large group of people but with a little help from the train crew they were ensured of a successful day. The train also has access to wi-fi and this soon became a new first for farmers and producers as they realised its advantages and entered the modern world of e-commerce.  Bazaars are now held on a regular basis on the train. They are accompanied by local music, singing and dancing creating a festive atmosphere 
Importantly these trains enable passengers to meet people from different valleys and regions and promote a harmonious meeting of cultures and traditions. Coy glances between youngsters may signal the beginning of a romance for life. The whole train experience may also be regarded as an antidote to the schemes of those who dream of creating ethnic tension in China's remote regions. Former strangers now greet each other like old friends.The experience may be regarded as a window for cross-regional exchange. 
The Slow Trains are fast revitalising China's remote regions. Since taking their products to new customers the income of many local people has doubled and lifted them out of rural poverty.  Another train, one of 81 slow trains in China, runs through the south-west of China's beautiful mountainous Sichuan province, a home of the giant panda. The buzz of human conversation is often  accompanied by the cheeps, grunts and quacks of other companions on the way to the market. The trains have helped people shake off poverty and embrace fuller lives while serving the people with stable ticket prices, unchanged for 26 years, and providing  reliable services. 
A discussion of China's railways would not be complete without a mention of the builders whose courage and perseverance made them possible. When the Qinghia Xizang line, that is the highest in the world and crosses the Tibetan plateau, was built over 20 years ago it represented a major challenge. Facing the harsh elements in remote regions, low temperatures and a lack of oxygen at high altitudes were all overcome to link Lhasa with the rest of People's China. Today the skills and high precision required for building the many impressive structures still require great effort. 
High speed rail represents progress. The new routes are impressive and include the world's longest and highest structures. New high speed freight trains are also being introduced and tests are underway of maglev trains that may travel at up to 1000km/hour.  But the slow trains of rural China retain a special place in peoples’ hearts while continuing to form an important part of their lives. The nostalgic appeal of the rural trains acts as an antidote to the urban stress of large cities by offering a more natural slower paced experience. As festivals approach the slow trains become festooned with decorations as people enjoy the ride. Long may these unique and wonderful trains survive. 

HP sauce

No by-election can be held these days without a flurry of independent candidates to liven up an often predictable race to the House of Commons. There’s the usual posse of self-proclaimed “revolutionaries” who believe that their forlorn efforts will somehow advance the cause of socialism. There’s the remnants of the racist and fascist movements that tried to kick their way to power back in the 1970s and a whole host of cranks seeking a platform for all sorts of bizarre opinions.  And finally there are those who capture the moment to rally dissident opinion that sometimes goes far beyond the usual protest vote. 
The legendary Screaming Lord Sutch first hit the headlines in the early 1960s. He continued until his sad death in 1999. Martin Bell – the “man in the white suit” actually took a seat from the Tories in 1997 on an anti-corruption ticket and sat in the House of Commons until 2001. And George Galloway, the maverick Labour MP, repeatedly bucked the system over the years to win seats against the mainstream parties. Now we have Count Binface.
Count Binface is the street persona of Jon Harvey, a stand-up comedian who has been a familiar face at by-elections since 2017. Binface upholds the rights of every citizen to stand in elections and gets a protest vote that many left groups would envy these days. This week he excelled himself winning 26.8 per cent of the vote in the Clacton by-election (9,455 votes) that was held by Nigel Farage who bagged 22,239 votes (63.34 per cent). Labour said this was “no victory for Nigel Farage” and “shows he likely has so much to hide”.
Though there was never any doubt about the outcome the result was a clear humiliation for the Faragists. The campaign revolved around the unanswered questions about the five million pounds donation given to the Reform UK leader and the antics of a man wearing tights with a bucket over his face who claims to be an “intergalactic space warrior” from the Planet Sigma IX.
Farage’s attempt to avoid Parliamentary scrutiny of his dodgy undeclared gifts and donations by triggering a by-election have turned into a farce and he knows it. The fact that over a quarter of those who voted chose the Count says it all.
The mainstream parties had boycotted the poll in protest. Binface, however, was joined by 33 other novelty candidates in the race. Many of them turned up for the count – unlike Farage who says he’d been advised not to by the police due to “a credible threat against him” – a claim the Essex police categorically deny.
The enquiry begins again now Farage is back in Parliament. If Farage is found to have breached MPs' rules, the Standards Commissioner could impose penalties that could lead to yet another by-election in Clacton. The Tories will now have to think deeply about their next move. Farage is a skilful manipulator. He will be difficult to beat, Though Clacton is part of the Conservative heartlands in Essex they may have to look for a high-profile maverick of their own to take on Nigel Farage.

Remember Hiroshima and Nagasaki

This week millions in Japan and throughout the world will pause to remember those who died in the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during the last days of the Second World War. On 6th August 1945 Hiroshima was destroyed by an American atom bomb. Nagasaki was hit three days later. Hundreds of thousands of people, mostly civilians, were killed instantly in the atomic blasts. Many more would later perish from flash burns and radiation sickness.
Hiroshima Day is observed on 6th August to commemorate the tragedy, honour the victims and promote global peace and nuclear disarmament. As Jeremy Corbyn says “On Hiroshima Day, we remember every single person who was killed by an indefensible act of barbarity. We mourn the human lives underneath the statistical horror of the bomb’s death toll which, together with that from the attack on Nagasaki, was more than 200,000 people. And we commemorate the hundreds of thousands of survivors — known as the hibakusha – who endured the horror of what was left behind: nuclear radiation, mass destruction and unimaginable grief”.
The claim that the atom bombs forced Japan to surrender is an enduring myth of the Second World War. The bourgeois politicians who seek to justify this monstrous war crime say that the Americans had to use the atom bomb to force Japan to surrender and bring the global conflict to an end. But Japan was already on its knees begging for an armistice.  Hitler was dead in his bunker. Japan was reeling from daily air-raids and a crippling Allied blockade. Communist-led partisans had driven the Japanese invaders out of vast tracts of China, Korea and Vietnam while the Soviet Red Army delivered the killer blow when they smashed through Japanese-occupied Manchuria in August 1945. But two Japanese cities were wiped out to show the world, and the Soviet Union in particular, what the might of US imperialism was capable of doing.
The Americans thought they had a monopoly on nuclear know-how. They thought their new nuclear weapons would give them the power to dominate the entire world. But they were wrong. Soviet scientists were also unravelling the secrets of the atom and the USSR would soon develop nukes that would more than match anything in the imperialist arsenal. 
All the veto-powers on the UN Security Council – Britain, People’s China, France, Russia and the United States have nuclear weapons. But China is the only one that pledges never to be the first to use them.
People’s China actively supports proposals for multilateral and universal nuclear disarmament. China stands for the complete prohibition and total destruction of all nuclear weapons. China, backed by many other countries, has challenged the West to implement the entire non‑proliferation treaty, which was signed in 1968 to halt nuclear arms race but also committed the signatories to work towards universal nuclear disarmament. In the meantime China calls on all the major nuclear‑weapon states to abandon their policy of nuclear deterrence.
These long‑standing demands must be projected throughout the anti-war movement in Britain. The NCP supports the efforts of the Stop the War movement, CND and other peace movements for unilateral British nuclear disarmament.
The British “deterrent” is a farce. The UK’s submarine-based Trident nuclear missile system is totally controlled by the Americans. Billions are wasted on maintaining Trident – money that could be better spent maintaining the health service and providing the education, affordable housing and decent state retirement pensions worthy of a country as rich as the United Kingdom. We must mobilise to stop the new Burnham government from spending billions more on these needless and useless nuclear weapons; scrap all British nuclear weapons and close down all US bases on our soil. 

The Age of Erdogan

by Ben Soton

From Life Itself – Turkey and Istanbul in the Age of Erdogan by Suzy Hansen, Profile Books 3036, 368pp, pbk rrp £12.99

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his Justice and Development Party (AKP) have dominated Turkey for over twenty years.  He became Prime Minister in 2003 and has been President since 2014. This is the story of his reign. The book covers the Erdogan years mainly through  the prism of the Istanbul neighbourhood of Karagumruk and its local muktar, Ismail.  A muktar is a local fixer, whom people often come to for advice; interestingly Erdogan once referred to himself as the Muktar of Turkey.
The author covers the changes to Istanbul over this period; which include a real-estate boom that has changed the appearance of the former capital of the old Ottoman Empire.  In 2013 Erdogan faced criticism from architects over the destruction of Gezi Park with a view to turning it into a shopping mall in the style of Ottoman military barracks.  This led to protests sparked by criticism from architects; in typical far-right populist fashion Erdogan claimed to be standing up to elites.  Meanwhile the construction boom led to serious imbalances in the Turkish economy, which led to economic problems in 2018. Early in the book Hansen gives historic reasons for the success of Erdogan and the AKP. In 1955 Istanbul was rocked by sectarian riots which led to an exodus of Greeks from Istanbul and other Turkish cities. They were replaced by conservative migrants from the countryside; some of whom had a poor understanding of city life.  Ismail recalls a new arrival depositing soil on his roof with a view to planting tomatoes and water pouring into his flat below. Now these communities have established small to medium sized businesses and become keen supporters of the AKP.  
Erdogan has created an alliance between Islam and capitalism based around state-sponsored construction projects to counter the secular Kemalist establishment they defeated in 2002 and curb the growth of the Turkish left. In the 1960s the left flourished in Turkey, as in much of Europe, often amongst radicalised students. Successful movements of the left are an alliance between workers and intellectuals but this didn’t work in Turkey where much of the urban working class are descended from rural migrants.  
The author charts the changes in the nature of the AKP which in its early days favoured a form of Pan-Islamism but has now moved towards an aggressive form of Turkish nationalism with an innate hostility to the Kurds. This can be partly explained by the AKP alliance with the far-right National Movement Party (MHP) in the Turkish parliament which further concentrated power in Erdogan’s hands.
The earthquake of 2023 sent shock-waves throughout Turkish society. Many of the buildings constructed during his tenure survived but some raised the issue of the unsafe buildings that were destroyed; especially in a country prone to earthquakes. Despite this he still survives and there is even talk of changing the constitution enabling him to remain in office after 2028.         
Erdogan’s success may be down to a weak opposition who engage in politics on his terms; or simply the repressive nature of the Turkish state. Hansen, an American academic views the world from a liberal perspective; focusing on the subjective experience of individuals.  However this does not mean that her work should be dismissed or ignored.
  

Labour holds!

The Burnham boost continues on a roll in Manchester. Labour swept the board in the Greater Manchester mayoralty by-election last week. Andy Burnham’s chosen successor, Bev Craig, won the most votes. The Faragists came a poor second, followed by the Greens while the Tories and the Liberal-Democrats trailed behind with the also-rans in the poll for the post left vacant when Burnham returned to the House of Commons to get rid of Starmer and become leader of the Labour Party. 
Her victory in what, is after-all a Labour stronghold, is perhaps not surprising. Nevertheless 
 Reform and the Greens had high hopes when the race began to replace the “King of the North” on his old turf. But their dreams of a breakthrough were dashed by Bev Craig, a seasoned Labour councillor who has led Manchester City Council since December 2021.
Bev Craig was the first woman and the first openly LGBT woman to lead Manchester City Council. She’s now the first woman elected to lead the Greater Manchester Combined Authority. She’s a supporter of Mainstream Labour, a self-styled “radical realist” faction that was set up last year to reverse the party's "clear drift to the right" under Starmer and promotes a left social-democratic platform which includes taxing wealth, introducing democratic reforms and restoring part, but not all, of the British public sector that existed until the Tory come-back in 1979. 
Labour now pips Reform in the opinion polls as the Faragist leader flays around Clacton fighting to keep his seat against a man with a bin over his head while more and more voters return to the Labour fold now that Burnham appears to uphold traditional Labour values. But does he?
Yes, no, maybe. Burnham has certainly revived Labour’s fortunes. His initial pledges to build more council houses and help pensioners have helped. So has the long over-due decision to allow maverick left MP Diane Abbott back into the party. His talk about wealth taxes, rejection of neo-liberalism and criticism of Israel – a first for a modern Labour leader – are further steps forward. Some say this is small beer compared to Attlee’s sweeping post-war programme that set up the welfare state and built the public sector and the NHS or those of the later Wilson administrations that brought the unions to the centre of government. But the Burnham agenda is a bonanza compared to Starmer who did nothing for working people.
Of course Attlee, Wilson and Callaghan served British imperialism as much as Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and Sir Keir Starmer. Andy Burnham and those behind him are no different.  
Burnham’s modest reforms are, however, not just sops to win votes – they do genuinely reflect the demand for change within the broader labour movement.
Getting rid of Starmer and his henchmen was a start. Now we have to get rid of the rest.
Getting back to the 1970s – the days when unions counted and workers enjoyed the highest standard of living recorded in the UK – will only come with mass pressure from the rank-and-file – the workers, the toilers the people who make this country work. We are part of that struggle and putting the communist answer to the capitalist crisis back on the street is the task of the day...